John E. Orton III

Judge “Jack” Orton is a native Rhode Islander, born in Providence and raised in Cranston. He is a 1954 graduate of Brown University, after which he served his country in the United States Marine Corps, stationed in Japan. Judge Orton attended Boston University School of Law, from which he received his Juris Doctor. After graduating, Judge Orton embarked on a long and distinguished career as both an attorney and judge within the Rhode Island legal community. He was a co-founding partner in the law firm of Noel & Orton in Providence, Rhode Island where he engaged in the general practice of law. In 1969 he was appointed by Governor Francis Licht to the Rhode Island District Court. In 1972 he was appointed by Governor Philip W. Noel as an Associate Justice of the Rhode Island Superior Court. In that capacity Judge Orton presided over civil and criminal trials in the state’s highest trial court. He retired from the bench in 1991 as the Senior Judge on the Rhode Island Superior Court and its Acting Presiding Justice. In retirement Judge Orton returned to the practice of law accepting a position “of counsel” to the Rhode Island law firm of McGovern, Noel & Bennick where he remained until 1994. Judge Orton is currently “of counsel” to DALEY ORTON.